GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida receiver Chris Rainey was arrested Tuesday and charged with aggravated stalking, a third-degree felony, for allegedly sending a former girlfriend a threatening text message.
The school did not announce any disciplinary action against the junior, but offensive coordinator Steve Addazio said: “Chris Rainey is not a part of our team right now. That’s really all I have to say on that.”
The alleged victim asked for the charges to be dropped.
“I did not want to have him arrested,” she said. “When the police came, I signed papers to not press any charges. I don’t fear for my safety.”
According to Gainesville police, Rainey sent the woman he dated on and off the last three years a text message that read, “Time to die, (expletive)” after leaving her home Monday.
Rainey has six receptions and a touchdown this season. He’s also the team’s primary punt returner.
Footnotes.
Pittsburgh defensive end Greg Romeus, the Big East co-defensive player of the year last season, will have surgery Thursday to repair a disc in his lower back and will miss an undetermined number of games.
• Purdue receiver Keith Smith is out for the season with torn medial collateral and anterior cruciate ligaments in his right knee.
• West Virginia cornerback Brandon Hogan, a 2009 all-Big East first- team selection, was suspended indefinitely after a drunken driving arrest Sunday — his second run-in with police in five months.
• Oklahoma freshman running back Brennan Clay will be held out of Saturday’s game against Air Force because of a concussion. Linebacker Austin Box, who is recovering from a back injury, also won’t play.
• Tulane freshman kicker Cairo Santos has been declared ineligible while the NCAA reviews his high school transcripts and test scores.
• The Western Athletic Conference filed a lawsuit to force Nevada and Fresno State to stay in the league through the 2011-12 school year before leaving for the Mountain West Conference.
The Associated Press
